Oxide material and semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

Stable electrical characteristics are given to a transistor and a highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. In addition, an oxide material which enables manufacture of such a semiconductor device is provided. An oxide film is used in which two or more kinds of crystalline portions which are different from each other in a direction of an a-axis or a direction of a b-axis in an a-b plane (or the top surface, or the formation surface) are included, and each of the crystalline portions is c-axis aligned, has at least one of triangular atomic arrangement and hexagonal atomic arrangement when seen from a direction perpendicular to the a-b plane, a top surface, or a formation surface, includes metal atoms arranged in a layered manner, or metal atoms and oxygen atoms arranged in a layered manner along the c-axis, and is expressed as In 2 SnZn 2 O 7 (ZnO) m  (m is 0 or a natural number).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an oxide material, a semiconductordevice including a semiconductor element such as a transistor which usesthe oxide material, and a manufacturing method of the semiconductordevice. For example, the present invention relates to a power devicewhich is mounted on a power supply circuit; a semiconductor integratedcircuit including a memory, a thyristor, a converter, an image sensor,or the like; an electro-optical device typified by a liquid crystaldisplay panel; a light-emitting display device including alight-emitting element; and an electronic device including any of theabove as a component.

In this specification, a semiconductor device generally refers to adevice which can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics; anelectro-optical device, a light-emitting display device, and anelectronic device are all included in the category of the semiconductordevice.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many transistors formed over a glass substrate or the like aremanufactured using amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, or thelike, as typically seen in liquid crystal display devices. Although atransistor manufactured using amorphous silicon has low field-effectmobility, it can be formed over a larger glass substrate. On the otherhand, although a transistor manufactured using polycrystalline siliconhas high field-effect mobility, it is not suitable for being formed overa larger glass substrate.

In recent years, a technique in which transistors are manufactured usingan oxide semiconductor and applied to electronic devices or opticaldevices has attracted attention. A technique in which a transistor ismanufactured using zinc oxide or an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide, for example,as an oxide semiconductor and used for a switching element of a pixel ofa display device or the like is disclosed in Patent Document 1 andPatent Document 2.

REFERENCE Patent Document [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published PatentApplication No. 2007-123861 [Patent Document 2] Japanese PublishedPatent Application No. 2007-096055 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Electrical characteristics of a transistor using an oxide semiconductorfilm are easily affected by an electron state at an interface betweenthe oxide semiconductor film and an insulating film in contact with theoxide semiconductor film. Thus, in the case where the oxidesemiconductor film in contact with the insulating film is in anamorphous state during or after manufacture of a transistor, the densityof defect states at the interface between the insulating film and theoxide semiconductor film is high and the transistor is likely to beelectrically unstable.

Further, there is a problem in that electrical characteristics of atransistor in which an oxide semiconductor film is used are changed byirradiation with visible light or ultraviolet light, which leads areduction in reliability.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of one embodiment of thepresent invention to give stable electrical characteristics to atransistor and to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device. Inaddition, it is another object of one embodiment of the presentinvention to provide an oxide material which enables manufacture of sucha semiconductor device.

One embodiment of the present invention is an oxide material whichincludes two or more kinds of crystalline portions which are differentfrom each other in a direction of an a-axis or a direction of a b-axis,and each of the crystalline portions is c-axis aligned and has at leastone of triangular atomic arrangement and hexagonal atomic arrangementwhen seen from a direction perpendicular to the a-b plane, a topsurface, or a formation surface.

An oxide material according to one embodiment of the present inventioncontains zinc. When zinc is contained, it becomes easy to form an oxidematerial which includes two or more kinds of crystalline portions whichare different from each other in a direction of an a-axis or a directionof a b-axis, and each of the crystalline portions is c-axis aligned andhas at least one of triangular atomic arrangement and hexagonal atomicarrangement when seen from a direction perpendicular to the a-b plane, atop surface, or a formation surface.

An oxide material according to one embodiment of the present inventioncontains two or more kinds of elements selected from indium, gallium,zinc, tin, titanium, and aluminum.

An oxide material according to one embodiment of the present inventioncan be formed by a sputtering method, an evaporation method, a plasmachemical vapor deposition (PCVD) method, a pulsed laser deposition (PLD)method, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, a molecular beamepitaxy (MBE) method, or the like.

An oxide material according to one embodiment of the present inventioncan be formed in such a manner that two kinds of films whosecompositions are different from each other are stacked and thencrystallized by heat treatment. Under some deposition conditions of theoxide material, crystallization may occur without heat treatment afterstacking of the films.

One embodiment of the present invention is an oxide material including aplurality of metal layers or a plurality of metal oxide layers. Theplurality of metal layers or the plurality of metal oxide layers arebonded through tetracoordinate oxygen (hereinafter referred to astetracoordinate O) atoms. The plurality of metal layers or the pluralityof metal oxide layers include a tetracoordinate central metal atom, apentacoordinate central metal atom, and a central metal atom that canhave either five ligands or six ligands.

In the case where the oxide material according to one embodiment of thepresent invention has conductivity, the oxide material can be used for amaterial of a gate electrode of a transistor. Note that the gateelectrode may have a stacked-layer structure of a film of the oxidematerial according to one embodiment of the present invention and ametal film.

In the case where the oxide material according to one embodiment of thepresent invention has conductivity, the oxide material can be used formaterials of a source electrode and a drain electrode of a transistor.Note that the source electrode and the drain electrode may each have astacked-layer structure of a film of the oxide material according to oneembodiment of the present invention and a metal film.

When an oxide material according to one embodiment of the presentinvention has a semiconductor property, a film containing the oxidematerial according to one embodiment of the present invention can beused for a channel formation region of a transistor. In that case, thefilm containing the oxide material is, for example, provided between andin contact with conductive films functioning as a source electrode and adrain electrode and an insulating film in the transistor. Note that theinsulating film functions as a gate insulating film, a base insulatingfilm, or an interlayer insulating film in the transistor.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, stable electricalcharacteristics can be given to a transistor and a highly reliablesemiconductor device can be provided. Moreover, an oxide material whichenables manufacture of such a semiconductor device can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A to 1D each illustrate a structure of an oxide materialaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a composition ratio of an oxide material according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a top view and a cross-sectional view illustratingan example of a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a top view and a cross-sectional view illustratingan example of a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 5A to 5F are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6D are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 8A to 8F are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 9A to 9C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a liquid crystaldisplay device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11A is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a semiconductormemory device according to one embodiment of the present invention andFIG. 11B shows electrical characteristics thereof;

FIG. 12A is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a semiconductormemory device according to one embodiment of the present invention andFIG. 12B shows electrical characteristics thereof; and

FIGS. 13A to 13C are perspective views each illustrating an example ofan electronic device to which a semiconductor device according to oneembodiment of the present invention is applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the presentinvention is not limited to the description below, and it is easilyunderstood by those skilled in the art that modes and details disclosedherein can be modified in various ways. Further, the present inventionis not construed as being limited to the description of the embodimentsbelow. In describing structures of the present invention with referenceto the drawings, the same reference numerals are used in common for thesame portions in different drawings. Note that the same hatch pattern isapplied to similar parts, and the similar parts are not especiallydenoted by reference numerals in some cases.

Before the present invention is described, terms used in thisspecification will be briefly explained. When one of a source and adrain of a transistor is called a drain, the other is called a source.That is, they are not distinguished depending on the potential level.Therefore, a portion called a source in this specification can bealternatively referred to as a drain.

A voltage refers to a potential difference between a given potential anda reference potential (e.g., a ground potential (GND) or a sourcepotential) in many cases. Accordingly, a voltage can also be called apotential and vice versa.

Even when the expression “to be connected” is used in thisspecification, there is a case in which no physical connection is madein an actual circuit and a wiring is only extended.

Note that the ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” in thisspecification are used for convenience and do not denote the order ofsteps or the stacking order of layers. In addition, the ordinal numbersin this specification do not denote particular names which specify theinvention.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, an oxide (c-axis aligned crystalline (CAAC) oxide)material will be described in which two or more kinds of crystallineportions which are different from each other in a direction of an a-axisor a direction of a b-axis in the a-b plane (or the top surface, or theformation surface) are included, and each of the crystalline portions isc-axis aligned, has at least one of triangular atomic arrangement andhexagonal atomic arrangement when seen from a direction perpendicular tothe a-b plane, a top surface, or a formation surface, and includes metalatoms arranged in a layered manner, or metal atoms and oxygen atomsarranged in a layered manner along the c-axis.

In a broad sense, a CAAC oxide means a non-single-crystal materialincluding a phase which has triangular, hexagonal, regular triangular,or regular hexagonal atomic arrangement when seen from the directionperpendicular to the a-b plane and in which metal atoms are arranged ina layered manner or metal atoms and oxygen atoms are arranged in alayered manner when seen from the direction perpendicular to the c-axis.

A CAAC oxide is not single crystal and is not composed of only anamorphous component. Although the CAAC oxide includes a crystallizedportion (crystalline portion), a boundary between one crystallineportion and another crystalline portion is not clear from an observationimage obtained with a transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Nitrogen may be substituted for part of oxygen included in the CAACoxide. The c-axes of individual crystalline portions of the CAAC oxidemay be aligned in a certain direction (e.g., a direction perpendicularto a top surface or a formation surface). Alternatively, the normals ofthe a-b planes of the individual crystalline portions of the CAAC oxidemay be aligned in a certain direction (e.g., a direction perpendicularto a top surface or a formation surface).

The CAAC oxide becomes a conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulatordepending on its composition or the like. The CAAC oxide transmits ordoes not transmit visible light depending on its composition or thelike.

An example of a CAAC oxide is a material which is formed into a filmshape and has triangular or hexagonal atomic arrangement when observedfrom the direction perpendicular to a top surface or a formation surfaceand in which metal atoms are arranged in a layered manner or metal atomsand oxygen atoms (or nitrogen atoms) are arranged in a layered mannerwhen a cross section of the film is observed.

The crystalline portion included in the CAAC oxide will be described indetail with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1D. In FIGS. 1A to 1D, the verticaldirection corresponds to the c-axis direction and a plane perpendicularto the c-axis corresponds to the a-b plane, unless otherwise specified.When the expressions “an upper half” and “a lower half” are simply used,they refer to an upper half above the a-b plane and a lower half belowthe a-b plane (an upper half and a lower half with respect to the a-bplane). Further, in FIGS. 1A to 1C, O surrounded by a circle representstetracoordinate O and O surrounded by a double circle representstricoordinate O.

FIG. 1A illustrates a structure having one hexacoordinate metal atom M_1and six tetracoordinate O atoms proximate to the metal atom M_1. Such astructure in which one metal atom and proximate oxygen atoms to themetal atom are only illustrated is called a small group here. Thestructure in FIG. 1A is actually an octahedral structure, but isillustrated as a planar structure for simplicity. Note that threetetracoordinate O atoms exist in each of an upper half and a lower halfin FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1B illustrates a structure having one pentacoordinate metal atomM_2, three tricoordinate oxygen (hereinafter referred to astricoordinate O) atoms proximate to the metal atom M_2, and twotetracoordinate O atoms proximate to the metal atom M_2. All thetricoordinate O atoms exist on the a-b plane. One tetracoordinate O atomexists in each of an upper half and a lower half in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 1C illustrates a structure having one tetracoordinate metal atomM_3 and four tetracoordinate O atoms proximate to the metal atom M_3. InFIG. 1C, one tetracoordinate O atom exists in an upper half and threetetracoordinate O atoms exist in a lower half.

Metal atoms each of which has a coordination number of 4, 5, or 6 arebonded through a tetracoordinate O atom. Specifically, a metal atom isbonded to another metal atom through tetracoordinate O atoms when thenumber of tetracoordinate O atoms is four in total. For example, in thecase where the hexacoordinate metal atom M_1 is bonded through threetetracoordinate O atoms in the upper half, it is bonded to thepentacoordinate metal atom M_2 through the teteracoordinate O atom inthe upper half of the pentacoordinate metal atom M_2, thepentacoordinate metal atom M_2 through the teteracoordinate O atom inthe lower half of the pentacoordinate metal atom M_2, or thetetracoordinate metal atom M_3 through the tetracoordinate O atom in theupper half of the tetracoordinate metal atom M_3.

Metal atoms each of which has any of the above coordination numbers arebonded through tetracoordinate O atoms. Further, one group is formed bycombining small groups so that the total electric charge of a layeredstructure is O. Note that a plurality of small groups form one group.

FIG. 1D illustrates a model of one group constituting a layeredstructure of an In—Sn—Zn—O-based material.

In FIG. 1D, for simplicity, a tricoordinate O atom is omitted and atetracoordinate O atom is illustrated by a circle; the number in thecircle shows the number of tetracoordinate O atoms. For example, threetetracoordinate O atoms existing in each of an upper half and a lowerhalf with respect to an In atom are denoted by circled 3. Similarly, inFIG. 1D, one tetracoordinate O atom existing in each of an upper halfand a lower half with respect to a Sn atom is denoted by circled 1. In asimilar manner, FIG. 1D also illustrates a Zn atom proximate to onetetracoordinate O atom in a lower half and three tetracoordinate O atomsin an upper half, and a Zn atom proximate to one tetracoordinate O atomin an upper half and three tetracoordinate O atoms in a lower half.

In the one group constituting the layered structure of theIn—Sn—Zn—O-based material in FIG. 1D, in the order starting from thetop, an In atom proximate to three tetracoordinate O atoms in each of anupper half and a lower half is bonded to a Zn atom proximate to onetetracoordinate O atom in an upper half, the Zn atom is bonded to a Snatom proximate to one tetracoordinate O atom in an upper half throughthree tetracoordinate O atoms in a lower half with respect to the Znatom, and the Sn atom is bonded to an In atom proximate to threetetracoordinate O atoms in each of an upper half and a lower halfthrough one tetracoordinate O atom in a lower half with respect to theSn atom, the In atom is bonded to a Zn atom proximate to onetetracoordinate O atom in an upper half, the Zn atom is bonded to a Znatom through three tetracoordinate O atoms in a lower half with respectto the Zn atom, and the Zn atom is bonded to an In atom through onetetracoordinate O atom in a lower half with respect to the Zn atom. Thisone group is bonded to another one group, whereby one unit that is onecycle is formed.

Here, electric charge of a tricoordinate O atom for making one bond andelectric charge of a tetracoordinate O atom for making one bond can beassumed to be −0.667 and −0.5, respectively. For example, electriccharge of (hexacoordinate or pentacoordinate) In, electric charge of(tetracoordinate) Zn, and electric charge of (pentacoordinate orhexacoordinate) Sn are +3, +2, and +4, respectively. Thus, electriccharge of a small group including Sn is +1. Therefore, electric chargeof −1, which cancels +1, is needed to form a layered structure includingSn. As a structure having electric charge of −1, a structure in whichtwo small groups including Zn are bonded as in FIG. 1D can be given. Forexample, when one small group including Sn is combined with onestructure in which two small groups including Zn are bonded, electriccharge is canceled, whereby the total electric charge in the layeredstructure can be 0.

Further, an In atom can have either five ligands or six ligands. When astructure in which the one group illustrated in FIG. 1D is repeated isformed, In—Sn—Zn—O-based crystal (In₂SnZn₃O₈) can be obtained. Note thata layered structure of the In—Sn—Zn—O-based crystal which is obtainedcan be expressed as a composition formula, In₂SnZn₂O₇(ZnO)_(m) (m is 0or a natural number). As larger m is, the crystallinity of theIn—Sn—Zn—O-based crystal is improved, which is preferable.

The above-described rule applies to the following oxide semiconductor:an In—Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor (also referred to as IGZO), an In—Al—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor, a Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, anAl—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, a Sn—Al—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor, an In—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, a Sn—Zn—O-basedoxide semiconductor, an Al—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, aZn—Mg—O-based oxide semiconductor, a Sn—Mg—O-based oxide semiconductor,an In—Mg—O-based oxide semiconductor, an In—Ga—O-based oxidesemiconductor, and the like.

Next, a method for forming a CAAC oxide film is described.

First, a first oxide film is formed over a flat substrate by asputtering method, an evaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method,an ALD method, an MBE method, or the like. Note that by heating thesubstrate at the time of film formation, an oxide film in which theratio of crystalline portions to amorphous portions is high can beobtained. For example, the substrate temperature is higher than or equalto 150° C. and lower than or equal to 450° C., preferably higher than orequal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 350° C.

By increasing the substrate temperature at the time of film formation, aCAAC oxide film in which the ratio of crystalline portions to amorphousportions is higher can be formed.

Next, the substrate may be subjected to first heat treatment. With thefirst heat treatment, the ratio of the crystalline portions to theamorphous portions in the oxide film can be further increased. The firstheat treatment may be performed at a temperature, for example, higherthan or equal to 200° C. and lower than the strain point of thesubstrate, and is preferably performed at a temperature higher than orequal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 450° C. The first heattreatment is performed in an oxidizing atmosphere, an inert atmosphere,or a reduced-pressure atmosphere (10 Pa or lower), but the atmosphere isnot limited thereto. The treatment time is 3 minutes to 24 hours. As thetreatment time is prolonged, the ratio of the crystalline portions tothe amorphous portions in the oxide film can be increased. However, heattreatment for over 24 hours is not excluded but not preferable becausethe productivity is reduced.

The oxidizing atmosphere is an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas.The oxidizing gas is oxygen, ozone, nitrous oxide, or the like, and itis preferable that the oxidation gas do not contain water, hydrogen, andthe like. For example, the purity of oxygen, ozone, or nitrous oxide tobe introduced into a heat treatment apparatus is greater than or equalto 8N (99.999999%), preferably greater than or equal to 9N (99.9999999%)(the impurity concentration is lower than or equal to 10 ppb, preferablylower than 0.1 ppb). As the oxidizing atmosphere, an oxidizing gas andan inert gas may be mixed to be used. In that case, the mixture containsan oxidizing gas at a concentration of higher than or equal to 10 ppm.

Here, an inert atmosphere refers to an atmosphere containing an inertgas (such as nitrogen or a rare gas (e.g., helium, neon, argon, krypton,or xenon)) as the main component. Specifically, the concentration of areactive gas such as an oxidizing gas is lower than 10 ppm.

For the first heat treatment, a rapid thermal anneal (RTA) apparatus canbe used. With the use of the RTA apparatus, only in a short time, theheat treatment can be performed at a temperature higher than or equal tothe strain point of the substrate. Thus, the time required for formationof the oxide film in which the ratio of crystalline portions toamorphous portions is high can be shortened.

Next, a second oxide film may be formed over the first oxide film,whereby an oxide stack may be formed. The second oxide film can beformed by a method selected from the methods for the first oxide film.

When the substrate is heated while the second oxide film is formed, thesecond oxide film can be crystallized with the use of the first oxidefilm as a seed crystal. At this time, to compose the first oxide filmand the second oxide film using the same kind of element is referred toas “homo-growth.” Alternatively, to compose the first oxide film and thesecond oxide film using elements, at least one kind of which differsbetween the first oxide film and the second oxide film, is referred toas “hetero-growth.”

Note that second heat treatment may be performed after the second oxidefilm is formed. The second heat treatment may be performed in a mannersimilar to that of the first heat treatment. With the second heattreatment, an oxide stack in which the ratio of crystalline portions toamorphous portions is high can be obtained. Further, with the secondheat treatment, the second oxide film can be crystallized with the useof the first oxide film as a seed crystal. At this time, homo-growth inwhich the first oxide film and the second oxide film are composed of thesame kind of element may be caused. Alternatively, hetero-growth inwhich the first oxide film and the second oxide film are composed ofelements, at least one kind of which differs between the first oxidefilm and the second oxide film, may be caused.

Through the above steps, a CAAC oxide film can be formed.

Here, an In—Sn—Zn—O-based material can have a composition ratioillustrated in FIG. 2. An In—Sn—Zn—O-based material typically has acomposition ratio of In:Sn:Zn=2:1:3 [atomic ratio], In:Sn:Zn=2:1:4[atomic ratio], or the like and a composition ratio which is closethereto is preferable. For example, In:Sn:Zn=36.5:15:48.5 [atomic ratio]illustrated in FIG. 2 can be employed. Further, in the case where anIn—Sn—Zn—O-based oxide film is formed by a sputtering method using anIn—Sn—Zn—O-based material as a target, a target whose Zn content ishigher as compared to a desired composition ratio is used because Zneasily evaporates to be lost. For example, Zn is preferably contained at50 atomic % or more. Note that when an oxide expressed by a compositionformula of In_(a)Sn_(b)Zn_(c)O_(x) has a composition ratio close toIn₂SnZn₄O_(x), a, b, and c satisfy the following two equations: a+b+c=7and (a−2)²+(b−1)²+(c−4)²≦0.25.

Note that electrical characteristics of a transistor which uses anamorphous In—Sn—Zn—O-based oxide in a channel formation region have beenreported, where a field-effect mobility of 30 cm²/Vs has been achieved(Eri Fukumoto, Toshiaki Arai, Narihiro Morosawa, Kazuhiko Tokunaga,Yasuhiro Terai, Takashige Fujimori, and Tatsuya Sasaoka, “High MobilityOxide Semiconductor TFT for Circuit Integration of AM-OLED”, IDW'10, pp.631-634).

This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate combination with theother embodiments.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, transistors using the CAAC oxide material describedin Embodiment 1 is described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, FIGS. 4Aand 4B, FIGS. 5A to 5F, FIGS. 6A to 6D, FIGS. 7A and 7B, FIGS. 8A to 8F,and FIGS. 9A to 9C.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a top view and a cross-sectional view of atransistor having a top-gate top-contact structure. FIG. 3A is the topview of the transistor and FIG. 3B shows a cross-section A-B taken alonga dashed-dotted line A-B in FIG. 3A.

The transistor illustrated in FIG. 3B includes a base insulating film102 provided over a substrate 100, a protective insulating film 104provided in the periphery of the base insulating film 102, an oxidesemiconductor film 106 which includes a high-resistance region 106 a andlow-resistance regions 106 b and which is provided over the baseinsulating film 102 and the protective insulating film 104, a gateinsulating film 108 provided over the oxide semiconductor film 106, agate electrode 110 provided so as to overlap with the high-resistanceregion 106 a with the gate insulating film 108 interposed therebetween,sidewall insulating films 112 which are in contact with side surfaces ofthe gate electrode 110, and a pair of electrodes 114 which are incontact with at least the low-resistance regions 106 b and the sidewallinsulating films 112. The transistor may include an interlayerinsulating film 116 which is provided so as to cover the transistor, andwirings 118 connected to the pair of electrodes 114 through openingportions provided in the interlayer insulating film 116.

Here, the CAAC oxide film described in Embodiment 1 is used for theoxide semiconductor film 106. When the CAAC oxide film described inEmbodiment 1 is used for the oxide semiconductor film 106, a transistorwith high field-effect mobility and high reliability can be obtained.

In the transistor illustrated in FIG. 3B, the low-resistance regions 106b of the oxide semiconductor film 106 can be formed in a self-alignedmanner with the use of the gate electrode 110 as a mask. Accordingly, aphotolithography process for the low-resistance regions 106 b (and thehigh-resistance region 106 a which is formed at the same time as thelow-resistance regions 106 b) can be omitted. Further, since there issubstantially no overlap between the low-resistance region 106 b and thegate electrode 110, parasitic capacitance due to an overlap between thelow-resistance region 106 b and the gate electrode 110 is not generated,so that the transistor can operate at high speed. Note that in thehigh-resistance region 106 a, a channel is formed when voltage higherthan or equal to the threshold voltage of the transistor is applied tothe gate.

The transistor illustrated in FIG. 3B includes the sidewall insulatingfilms 112; accordingly, when the transistor operates, an electric fieldis applied from the pair of electrodes 114 to the high-resistance region106 a through the low-resistance regions 106 b. The low-resistanceregions 106 b relax the concentration of an electric field in an edgeportion of the high-resistance region 106 a, so that deterioration suchas hot carrier degradation can be suppressed even in a minute transistorwith a short channel length, which can make the transistor highlyreliable.

For the base insulating film 102, an insulating film from which oxygenis released by heat treatment is preferably used. When a film that is incontact with the oxide semiconductor film 106 is an insulating film fromwhich oxygen is released by heat treatment, oxygen deficiency generatedin the oxide semiconductor film 106 and in the vicinity of the interfaceof the oxide semiconductor film 106 can be repaired and deterioration inelectrical characteristics of the transistor can be suppressed.

For easier crystal growth in the oxide semiconductor film 106, it ispreferable that the base insulating film 102 be sufficiently flat.Specifically, the base insulating film 102 is provided so as to have anaverage surface roughness (R_(a)) of 1 nm or less, preferably 0.3 nm orless. Note that R_(a) is obtained by expanding centerline averageroughness, which is defined by JIS B 0601, into three dimensions so asto be applicable to a surface. Moreover, R_(a) can be expressed asaverage value of the absolute values of deviations from a referencesurface to a specific surface and is defined by Expression 1.

$\begin{matrix}{{Ra} = {\frac{1}{S_{0}}{\int_{y\; 1}^{y\; 2}{\int_{x\; 1}^{x\; 2}{{{{f( {x,y} )} - Z_{0}}}\ {x}\ {y}}}}}} & \lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 1} \rbrack\end{matrix}$

Note that in Expression 1, S₀ represents the area of a measurementsurface (a rectangular region defined by four points represented by thecoordinates (x₁,y₁), (x₁,y₂), (x₂,y₁), and (x₂,y₂)), and Z₀ representsaverage height of the measurement surface. Further, R_(a) can bemeasured with an atomic force microscope (AFM).

The base insulating film 102 may be formed to have a single-layerstructure or a stacked-layer structure, using at least one of siliconoxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride,aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide,yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, cesium oxide, tantalum oxide, andmagnesium oxide.

To release oxygen by heat treatment means that the released amount ofoxygen which is converted into oxygen atoms is estimated to be greaterthan or equal to 1.0×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, or greater than or equal to3.0×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS).

Here, a method for measuring the amount of released oxygen using TDSanalysis is described.

The total amount of released gases in TDS analysis is proportional tothe integral value of intensity of ions of the released gases, and thetotal amount of released gases can be calculated by the comparisonbetween the integral value of a measured sample and that of a standardsample.

For example, the number of released oxygen molecules (N_(O2)) from aninsulating film can be found according to Expression 2 with the TDSanalysis results of a silicon wafer containing hydrogen at apredetermined density which is the standard sample and the TDS analysisresults of the insulating film. Here, all gases having a mass number of32 which are obtained in the TDS analysis are assumed to originate froman oxygen molecule. CH₃OH, which is a gas having a mass number of 32, isnot taken into consideration on the assumption that it is unlikely to bepresent. Further, an oxygen molecule including an oxygen atom having amass number of 17 or 18 which is an isotope of an oxygen atom is nottaken into consideration either, because the proportion of such amolecule in the natural world is minimal

$\begin{matrix}{N_{O\; 2} = {\frac{N_{H\; 2}}{S_{H\; 2}} \times S_{O\; 2} \times \alpha}} & \lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 2} \rbrack\end{matrix}$

N_(H2) is the value obtained by conversion of the number of hydrogenmolecules released from the standard sample into densities. S_(H2) isthe integral value of ion intensity when the standard sample issubjected to TDS analysis. Here, the reference value of the standardsample is set to N_(H2)/S_(H2). S_(O2) is the integral value of ionintensity when the insulating film is subjected to TDS analysis. α is acoefficient affecting the ion intensity in the TDS analysis. Refer toJapanese Published Patent Application No. H6-275697 for details ofExpression 2. Note that the amount of released oxygen from the aboveinsulating film is measured with a thermal desorption spectroscopyapparatus produced by ESCO Ltd., EMD-WA1000S/W using a silicon wafercontaining a hydrogen atom at 1×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³ as the standard sample.

Further, in the TDS analysis, oxygen is partly detected as an oxygenatom. The ratio between oxygen molecules and oxygen atoms can becalculated from the ionization rate of the oxygen molecules. Note thatsince the above a includes the ionization rate of the oxygen molecules,the number of the released oxygen atoms can also be estimated throughthe evaluation of the number of the released oxygen molecules.

Note that N_(O2) is the number of the released oxygen molecules. Theamount of released oxygen converted into oxygen atoms is twice thenumber of the released oxygen molecules.

In the above structure, the film from which oxygen is released by heattreatment may be oxygen-excess silicon oxide (SiO_(X) (X>2)). In theoxygen-excess silicon oxide (SiO_(X) (X>2)), the number of oxygen atomsper unit volume is more than twice the number of silicon atoms per unitvolume. The number of silicon atoms and the number of oxygen atoms perunit volume are measured by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry.

By supplying oxygen from the base insulating film 102 to the oxidesemiconductor film 106, the density of interface states between theoxide semiconductor film 106 and the base insulating film 102 can bereduced. As a result, carrier trapping at the interface between theoxide semiconductor film 106 and the base insulating film 102 throughoperation of the transistor or the like can be suppressed, and thus atransistor whose electrical characteristics less deteriorate can beobtained.

Further, in some cases, electric charge is generated owing to oxygendeficiency in the oxide semiconductor film 106. In general, part ofoxygen deficiency in an oxide semiconductor film serves as a donor torelease an electron which is a carrier. As a result, the thresholdvoltage of the transistor shifts in the negative direction. In view ofthis, when oxygen is sufficiently supplied from the base insulating film102 to the oxide semiconductor film 106, oxygen deficiency in the oxidesemiconductor film 106 which causes the negative shift of the thresholdvoltage can be reduced.

It is preferable that the protective insulating film 104 be a filmthrough which oxygen does not pass even when heat treatment at atemperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to450° C., preferably higher than or equal to 150° C. and lower than orequal to 800° C. is performed for one hour, for example.

When the protective insulating film 104 with such a property is providedin the periphery of the base insulating film 102, oxygen released fromthe base insulating film 102 by heat treatment can be inhibited fromdiffusing toward the outside of the transistor. Accordingly, oxygen iskept in the base insulating film 102, so that the electricalcharacteristics and reliability of the transistor can be improved.

Note that a structure without the protective insulating film 104 is notexcluded.

The protective insulating film 104 may be formed to have a single-layerstructure or a stacked-layer structure, using at least one of siliconnitride oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride,hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, cesiumoxide, tantalum oxide, and magnesium oxide.

A flexible substrate may be used as the substrate 100. In that case, atransistor is formed directly on the flexible substrate. As a method forforming a transistor on a flexible substrate, a method may be employedin which after the transistor is formed over a non-flexible substrate,the transistor is separated and transferred to the substrate 100 that isa flexible substrate. In that case, a separation layer is preferablyprovided between the non-flexible substrate and the transistor.

The gate electrode 110 may be formed to have a single-layer structure ora stacked-layer structure, using at least one of the followingmaterials: one of Al, Ti, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Y, Zr, Mo, Ag, Ta, and W; anitride of any of these elements; an oxide of any of these elements; andan alloy of any of these elements. Note that the CAAC oxide filmdescribed in Embodiment 1 may be used.

The gate insulating film 108 can be formed using a method and a materialsimilar to those of the base insulating film 102.

The pair of electrodes 114 can be formed using a method and a materialsimilar to those of the gate electrode 110.

The interlayer insulating film 116 can be formed using a method and amaterial similar to those of the base insulating film 102.

The wirings 118 can be formed using a method and a material similar tothose of the gate electrode 110.

An example of a method for manufacturing the transistor illustrated inFIG. 3B is described below.

Here, it is preferable that impurities such as hydrogen and water thatadversely affect the characteristics of the transistor be not containedin all the films. For example, impurities adhering to a surface of thesubstrate 100 or the like are taken in a film. It is thus preferablethat impurities adhering to the surface of the substrate 100 or the likebe removed by performing heat treatment in a reduced-pressure atmosphereor an oxidizing atmosphere before formation of each film. In addition,since impurities existing in a film formation chamber become a problem,the impurities are also preferably removed in advance. Specifically, itis preferable that the film formation chamber be subjected to baking sothat removal of a gas from the inside of the film formation chamber ispromoted and the film formation chamber is evacuated. In addition,before formation of each film (or after exposure of the film formationchamber to the air), approximately five-minute dummy film formation forapproximately 100 dummy substrates is preferably performed. Note that itis more preferable that the film formation chamber be evacuated everytime dummy film formation for a dummy substrate is performed. Here,dummy film formation means film formation conducted on a dummy substrateby sputtering or the like. Through dummy film formation, a film isdeposited on a dummy substrate and the inner wall of the film formationchamber, so that impurities in the film formation chamber and anadsorbate existing on the inner wall of the film formation chamber canbe enclosed in the film. For the dummy substrate, a material from whicha less amount of gas is released is preferably used, and for example, amaterial which is similar to that of the substrate 100 may be used. Byperforming dummy film formation, impurity concentration in a film to beformed can be reduced.

Since the purity of a gas used for film formation also influences theimpurity concentration in the film, the purity of the gas is preferablyas high as possible. When a sputtering method is employed, for example,an argon gas having a purity of 9N (dew point: −121° C., waterconcentration: 0.1 ppb, hydrogen concentration: 0.5 ppb) and an oxygengas having a purity of 8N (dew point: −112° C., water concentration: 1ppb, hydrogen concentration: 1 ppb) can be used.

First, a base insulating film 152 is formed over the substrate 100 by asputtering method, an evaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method,an ALD method, an MBE method, or the like using a material selected fromthe materials given for the base insulating film 102 (see FIG. 5A).

Then, the base insulating film 152 is processed by photolithography orthe like, so that the base insulating film 102 is formed (see FIG. 5B).

After that, a protective insulating film 154 is formed by a sputteringmethod, an evaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method, an ALDmethod, an MBE method, or the like using a material selected from thematerials given for the protective insulating film 104 (see FIG. 5C).

Then, by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) treatment, the protectiveinsulating film 104 whose top surface is level with that of the baseinsulating film 102 is formed (see FIG. 5D). Note that the top surfaceof the base insulating film 102 and that of the protective insulatingfilm 104 may be at substantially the same level.

Then, an oxide semiconductor film is formed by a method similar to thatfor the oxide film which is described in Embodiment 1, and is processedby photolithography or the like, so that an oxide semiconductor film 156is formed (see FIG. 5E). By heat treatment which is performed at thistime, oxygen is supplied from the base insulating film 102 to the oxidesemiconductor film.

After that, an insulating film 158 and a conductive film 160 are formedin this order (see FIG. 5F). As a method for forming these films, any ofa sputtering method, an evaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method,an ALD method, an MBE method, and the like can be employed. Theinsulating film 158 and the conductive film 160 can be respectivelyformed using a material selected from the materials given for the gateinsulating film 108 and a material selected from the materials given forthe gate electrode 110.

Then, the conductive film 160 is processed by photolithography or thelike, so that the gate electrode 110 is formed (see FIG. 6A).

After that, with the use of the gate electrode 110 as a mask, animpurity 120 for reducing the resistance of the oxide semiconductor film156 is added through the insulating film 158, so that the oxidesemiconductor film 106 including the high-resistance region 106 a andthe low-resistance regions 106 b is formed (see FIG. 6B). Note thatphosphorus, nitrogen, boron, or the like can be used as the impurity120. After addition of the impurity 120, heat treatment at a temperaturehigher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 650° C. maybe performed. Note that the impurity 120 is preferably added by an ionimplantation method because, in such a case, less hydrogen is added intothe oxide semiconductor film 106 as compared to the case where theimpurity 120 is added by an ion doping method. Note that the use of anion doping method is not excluded.

Note that by addition of the impurity 120 through the insulating film158, damage caused at the time of addition of the impurity 120 to theoxide semiconductor film 106 can be reduced.

After that, an insulating film 162 is formed by a sputtering method, anevaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method, an ALD method, an MBEmethod, or the like using a material selected from the materials givenfor the sidewall insulating films 112 (see FIG. 6C).

Then, the insulating film 162 is etched, so that the sidewall insulatingfilms 112 are formed. The etching here is a highly anisotropic etchingstep, and the sidewall insulating films 112 can be formed in aself-aligned manner by performing the highly anisotropic etching step onthe insulating film 162. Here, dry etching is preferably employed ashighly anisotropic etching, and a gas including fluorine such astrifluoromethane (CHF₃), octafluorocyclobutane (C₄F₈), ortetrafluoromethane (CF₄) can be used as an etching gas. A rare gas suchas helium (He) or argon (Ar) or hydrogen (H₂) may be added to theetching gas. In addition, as the dry etching, a reactive ion etching(RIE) method in which high-frequency voltage is applied to a substrate,is preferably used.

While the sidewall insulating films 112 are formed, the gate insulatingfilm 108 can be formed by processing the insulating film 158 (see FIG.6D).

After that, a conductive film is formed by a sputtering method, anevaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method, an ALD method, an MBEmethod, or the like and processed by photolithography or the like, sothat the pair of electrodes 114 are formed (see FIG. 7A).

Then, the interlayer insulating film 116 is formed by a sputteringmethod, an evaporation method, a PCVD method, a PLD method, an ALDmethod, an MBE method, or the like, and the opening portions forexposure of the pair of electrodes 114 are provided. After that, aconductive film is formed by a sputtering method, an evaporation method,a PCVD method, a PLD method, an ALD method, an MBE method, or the likeand processed by photolithography or the like, so that the wirings 118which are in contact with the pair of electrodes 114 are formed (seeFIG. 7B). Note that for the interlayer insulating film 116, it ispreferable to use an aluminum oxide film at least part of which has athickness of 20 nm or more, preferably 50 nm or more, more preferably100 nm or more. When an aluminum oxide film is used, entry of impurities(e.g., hydrogen or water) from the outside of the transistor, whichadversely affect the electrical characteristics of the transistor, canbe suppressed. Further, outward diffusion of oxygen released from thebase insulating film 102 from the transistor can be suppressed. Toachieve these effects, although depending on the quality of the aluminumoxide film, the aluminum oxide film needs to have some thickness.However, making the thickness of an aluminum oxide film too large leadsa reduction in productivity; thus, an appropriate thickness may beselected.

Through the above-described steps, the transistor illustrated in FIG. 3Bcan be manufactured.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a top view and a cross-sectional view of atransistor having a top-gate bottom-contact structure. FIG. 4A is thetop view of the transistor and FIG. 4B shows a cross-section A-B takenalong a dashed-dotted line A-B in FIG. 4A.

The transistor illustrated in FIG. 4B includes a base insulating film103 provided over the substrate 100, a pair of electrodes 115 providedin groove portions of the base insulating film 103, the oxidesemiconductor film 106 which includes the high-resistance region 106 aand the low-resistance regions 106 b and which is provided over the baseinsulating film 103 and the pair of electrodes 115, a gate insulatingfilm 109 provided over the oxide semiconductor film 106, a gateelectrode 111 provided so as to overlap with the high-resistance region106 a with the gate insulating film 109 interposed therebetween. Thetransistor may include an interlayer insulating film 117 which isprovided so as to cover the transistor, and wirings 119 connected to thepair of electrodes 115 through opening portions provided in theinterlayer insulating film 117, the gate insulating film 109, and theoxide semiconductor film 106.

Note that the base insulating film 103, the gate insulating film 109,the gate electrode 111, the pair of electrodes 115, the interlayerinsulating film 117, and the wirings 119 can be respectively formedusing methods and materials similar to those of the base insulating film102, the gate insulating film 108, the gate electrode 110, the pair ofelectrodes 114, the interlayer insulating film 116, and the wirings 118.

The transistor illustrated in FIG. 4B is different from the transistorillustrated in FIG. 3B in that the pair of electrodes 115 are in contactwith lower portions of the oxide semiconductor film 106. This structureis preferable in the case where the oxide semiconductor film 106 isformed thin (e.g., in the case where the oxide semiconductor film 106 isformed to a thickness of 5 nm or less) or the like, because part of theoxide semiconductor film 106 is not exposed to plasma or a chemicalsolution at the time of formation of the pair of electrodes 115.

An example of a method for manufacturing the transistor illustrated inFIG. 4B is described below.

First, a base insulating film 153 is formed over the substrate 100 (seeFIG. 8A).

After that, the base insulating film 153 is processed, so that the baseinsulating film 103 is formed (see FIG. 8B).

Then, a conductive film 165 is formed (see FIG. 8C).

Then, CMP treatment is performed, so that the pair of electrodes 115whose top surfaces are level with that of the base insulating film 103are formed (see FIG. 8D).

After that, the oxide semiconductor film 156 is formed (see FIG. 8E).

Then, the gate insulating film 109 and a conductive film 161 are formedin this order (see FIG. 8F).

Then, the conductive film 161 is processed, so that the gate electrode111 is formed (see FIG. 9A).

After that, with the use of the gate electrode 111 as a mask, theimpurity 120 for reducing the resistance of the oxide semiconductor film156 is added through the gate insulating film 109, so that the oxidesemiconductor film 106 including the high-resistance region 106 a andthe low-resistance regions 106 b is formed (see FIG. 9B).

After that, the interlayer insulating film 117 is formed and the openingportions for exposure of the pair of electrodes 115 are provided. Then,a conductive film is formed and processed, so that the wirings 119 whichare in contact with the pair of electrodes 115 are formed (see FIG. 9C).

Through the above-described steps, the transistor illustrated in FIG. 4Bcan be manufactured.

In this embodiment, a transistor with high field-effect mobility andhigh reliability can be obtained by using the CAAC oxide materialdescribed in Embodiment 1 for the oxide semiconductor film 106.

This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate combination with theother embodiments.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, a liquid crystal display device manufactured usingthe transistor described in Embodiment 2 will be described. Note thatalthough an example in which one embodiment of the present invention isapplied to the liquid crystal display device is described in thisembodiment, application is not limited thereto. For example, applicationof one embodiment of the present invention to an electroluminescence(EL) display device is readily conceived by those skilled in the art.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of an active matrix liquid crystal displaydevice. The liquid crystal display device includes source lines SL_1 toSL_a, gate lines GL_1 to GL_b, and a plurality of pixels 200. Each pixel200 includes a transistor 230, a capacitor 220, and a liquid crystalelement 210. A pixel portion in the liquid crystal display device isconstituted by arranging the pixels 200 in a matrix. In the case wherethe source line or the gate line is simply mentioned, it is denoted asthe source line SL or the gate line GL.

As the transistor 230, the transistor described in Embodiment 2 can beused. With the use of the transistor described in Embodiment 2, a liquidcrystal display device with low power consumption, favorable electricalcharacteristics, and high reliability can be obtained. Note that inorder to distinguish transistors using oxide semiconductors from theother transistors, the symbol denoting the transistor 230 is used.

The gate line GL is connected to a gate of the transistor 230, thesource line SL is connected to a source of the transistor 230, and adrain of the transistor 230 is connected to one capacitor electrode ofthe capacitor 220 and one pixel electrode of the liquid crystal element210. The other capacitor electrode of the capacitor 220 and the otherpixel electrode of the liquid crystal element 210 are connected to acommon electrode. Note that the common electrode may be formed using thesame material and in the same layer as the gate line GL.

Further, the gate line GL is connected to a gate driver circuit. Thegate driver circuit may include the transistor described in Embodiment2. The off-state current of the transistor can be decreased, and thevoltage used for turning the transistor on can be low. Thus, powerconsumption can be reduced.

Further, the source line SL is connected to a source driver circuit. Thesource driver circuit may include the transistor described in Embodiment2. The off-state current of the transistor can be decreased, and thevoltage used for turning the transistor on can be low. Thus, powerconsumption can be reduced.

One of or both the gate driver circuit and the source driver circuit maybe formed over a substrate which is separately prepared, and connectedby a method such as a chip on glass (COG) method, a wire bonding method,or a tape automated bonding (TAB) method may be employed.

Since the transistor is easily broken by static electricity or the like,a protection circuit is preferably provided. The protection circuit ispreferably formed using a nonlinear element.

When a potential is applied to the gate line GL to be higher than orequal to the threshold voltage of the transistor 230, electric chargesupplied from the source line SL flows as a drain current of thetransistor 230 and is stored in the capacitor 220. After charging forone row is performed, the transistors 230 in the row are turned off, andthe voltage is not applied from the source line SL. However, thenecessary voltage can be held by the electric charge stored in thecapacitor 220. Then, the capacitors 220 in the next row are charged. Insuch a manner, charging for the first row to the b-th row is performed.

Since the off-state current of the transistor 230 is small, the electriccharge stored in the capacitor 220 is barely likely to be discharged,and capacitance of the capacitor 220 can be reduced, so that powerconsumption needed for charging can be reduced.

Further, in the case where a transistor whose off-state current is small(such as the transistor described in Embodiment 2) is used as thetransistor 230, a time period during which the voltage is held can bemade longer. By this effect, the frequency of rewriting display can bereduced in the case of an image with little motion (including a stillimage); thus, a further reduction in power consumption can be achieved.In addition, capacitance of the capacitor 220 can be further reduced, sothat power consumption needed for charging can be reduced.

As described above, with the use of the transistor according to oneembodiment of the present invention, a liquid crystal display devicewith high reliability and low power consumption can be obtained.

This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate combination with theother embodiments.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, an example of manufacturing a semiconductor memorydevice using the transistor described in Embodiment 2 will be described.

Typical examples of volatile semiconductor memory devices include adynamic random access memory (DRAM) which stores data by selecting atransistor included in a memory element and storing electric charge in acapacitor and a static random access memory (SRAM) which holds storeddata using a circuit such as a flip-flop.

Typical examples of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include aflash memory which has a floating gate between a gate electrode and achannel formation region of a transistor and stores data by holdingelectric charge in the floating gate.

The transistor described in Embodiment 2 can be applied to some oftransistors included in the above semiconductor memory device.

First, a memory cell that is a semiconductor memory device to which thetransistor described in Embodiment 2 is applied is described withreference to FIGS. 11A and 11B.

A memory cell includes a bit line BL, a word line WL, a sense amplifierSAmp, a transistor Tr, and a capacitor C (see FIG. 11A).

It is known that the potential held by the capacitor C is graduallyreduced over time due to the off-state current of the transistor Tr asshown in FIG. 11B. After a certain period of time, the potentialoriginally charged from V0 to V1 is decreased to VA which is a limit forreading data 1. This period is called a holding period T_1. In the caseof a two-level memory cell, refresh operation needs to be performedwithin the holding period T_1.

When the transistor described in Embodiment 2 is employed as thetransistor Tr, the holding period T_1 can be made longer because theoff-state current of the transistor is small. That is, frequency of therefresh operation can be reduced, which results in a reduction in powerconsumption.

When the transistor whose off-state current is small is used as thetransistor Tr, the time period for holding the voltage can further beprolonged, so that the power consumption can be further reduced. Forexample, when a memory cell includes the transistor described inEmbodiment 2 whose off-state current is less than or equal to 1×10⁻²¹ A,preferably less than or equal to 1×10⁻²⁴ A, data can be held for severaldays to several decades without supply of power.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, a semiconductor memory device with high reliability and lowpower consumption can be obtained.

Next, a memory cell that is a semiconductor memory device to which thetransistor described in Embodiment 2 is applied and which is differentfrom that illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B is described with referenceto FIGS. 12A and 12B.

FIG. 12A is a circuit diagram of a memory cell. The memory cell includesa transistor Tr_1, a gate line GL_1 connected to a gate of thetransistor Tr_1, a source line SL_1 connected to a source of thetransistor Tr_1, a transistor Tr_2, a source line SL_2 connected to asource of the transistor Tr_2, a drain line DL_2 connected to a drain ofthe transistor Tr_2, a capacitor C, a capacitor line CL connected to oneterminal of the capacitor C, and a floating gate FG connected to theother terminal of the capacitor C, a drain of the transistor Tr_1, and agate of the transistor Tr_2.

The memory cell described in this embodiment utilizes variation in thethreshold voltage of the transistor Tr_2, which depends on the potentialof the floating gate FG For example, FIG. 12B is a graph showing arelationship between a drain current I_(D) _(—) 2 flowing through thetransistor Tr_2 and a potential V_(CL) of the capacitor line CL.

The floating gate FG can control a potential through the transistorTr_1. For example, the potential of the source line SL_1 is set to VDD.In this case, when the potential of the gate line GL_1 is set to behigher than or equal to the potential obtained by adding VDD to thethreshold voltage Vth of the transistor Tr_1, the potential of thefloating gate FG can be HIGH. Further, when the potential of the gateline GL_1 is set to be lower than or equal to the threshold voltage Vthof the transistor Tr_1, the potential of the floating gate FG can beLOW.

Thus, either a V_(CL)-I_(D) _(—) 2 curve (FG=LOW) or a V_(CL)-I_(D) _(—)2 curve (FG=HIGH) can be obtained. In the case where FG=LOW, the draincurrent I_(D) _(—) 2 is small when V_(CL) is 0 V, so that data 0 isgiven. In the case where FG=HIGH, the drain current I_(D) _(—) 2 islarge when V_(CL) is 0 V, so that data 1 is given. In such a manner,data can be stored.

By applying the transistor described in Embodiment 2 to the transistorTr_1, the off-state current of the transistor can be extremely small;thus, the electric charge stored in the floating gate FG can beinhibited from being unintentionally leaked through the transistor Tr_1.As a result, data can be held for a long time.

Note that the transistor described in Embodiment 2 can be applied to thetransistor Tr_2.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, a semiconductor memory device with high reliability for along time and low power consumption can be obtained.

This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate combination with theother embodiments.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, examples of electronic devices to which any ofEmbodiments 2 to 4 is applied will be described.

FIG. 13A illustrates a portable information terminal. The portableinformation terminal includes a housing 300, a button 301, a microphone302, a display portion 303, a speaker 304, and a camera 305, and mayhave a function as a mobile phone. The display device described inEmbodiment 3 can be applied to the display portion 303 and the camera305. Although not illustrated, the semiconductor memory device describedin Embodiment 4 can also be applied to an arithmetic unit, a wirelesscircuit, or a memory device inside the housing 300.

FIG. 13B illustrates a display which includes a housing 310 and adisplay portion 311. A display device according to Embodiment 3 can beapplied to the display portion 311. When a transistor according to oneembodiment of the present invention is used, the display can have lowpower consumption and high display quality even in the case where thesize of the display portion 311 is increased.

FIG. 13C illustrates a digital still camera which includes a housing320, a button 321, a microphone 322, and a display portion 323. Thedisplay device described in Embodiment 3 can be applied to the displayportion 323. Although not illustrated, the semiconductor memory devicedescribed in Embodiment 4 can also be applied to a memory circuit or animage sensor which is included in the housing 320.

With the use of a semiconductor device according to one embodiment ofthe present invention, a high performance electronic device with lowpower consumption can be provided.

This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate combination with theother embodiments.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial no.2011-096611 filed with Japan Patent Office on Apr. 22, 2011, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. An oxide material comprising: two or more kinds of crystallineportions which are different from each other in a direction of an a-axisor a direction of a b-axis in an a-b plane, wherein each of thecrystalline portions is c-axis aligned, has at least one of a triangularatomic arrangement and a hexagonal atomic arrangement when seen from adirection perpendicular to the a-b plane, and comprises indium, tin andzinc.
 2. The oxide material according to claim 1, wherein metal atomsare arranged in a layered manner, or the metal atoms and oxygen atomsare arranged in a layered manner when seen from a directionperpendicular to the c-axis in each of the crystalline portions.
 3. Theoxide material according to claim 1 comprising two kinds of films whosecompositions are different.
 4. An oxide material comprising: two or morekinds of crystalline portions which are different from each other in adirection of an a-axis or a direction of a b-axis in an a-b plane,wherein each of the crystalline portions is c-axis aligned, has at leastone of a triangular atomic arrangement and a hexagonal atomicarrangement when seen from a direction perpendicular to the a-b plane,and is expressed as In₂SnZn₂O₇(ZnO)_(m) (m is 0 or a natural number). 5.The oxide material according to claim 4, wherein metal atoms arearranged in a layered manner, or the metal atoms and oxygen atoms arearranged in a layered manner when seen from a direction perpendicular tothe c-axis in each of the crystalline portions.
 6. The oxide materialaccording to claim 4 comprising two kinds of films whose compositionsare different.
 7. A semiconductor device comprising: a gate electrode; agate insulating film in contact with the gate electrode; and an oxidesemiconductor film comprising two or more kinds of crystalline portionswhich are different from each other in a direction of an a-axis or adirection of a b-axis in an a-b plane, each of the crystalline portionsbeing c-axis aligned, having at least one of a triangular atomicarrangement and a hexagonal atomic arrangement when seen from adirection perpendicular to the a-b plane, and comprising indium, tin andzinc, wherein the oxide semiconductor film is in contact with the gateinsulating film.
 8. The semiconductor device according to claim 7,wherein metal atoms are arranged in a layered manner, or the metal atomsand oxygen atoms are arranged in a layered manner when seen from adirection perpendicular to the c-axis in each of the crystallineportions.
 9. The semiconductor device according to claim 7, furthercomprising a pair of electrodes at least part of which is in contactwith the oxide semiconductor film.
 10. A semiconductor devicecomprising: a gate electrode; a gate insulating film in contact with thegate electrode; and an oxide semiconductor film comprising two or morekinds of crystalline portions which are different from each other in adirection of an a-axis or a direction of a b-axis in an a-b plane, eachof the crystalline portions being c-axis aligned, having at least one ofa triangular atomic arrangement and a hexagonal atomic arrangement whenseen from a direction perpendicular to the a-b plane, and beingexpressed as In₂SnZn₂O₇(ZnO)_(m) (m is 0 or a natural number), whereinthe oxide semiconductor film is in contact with the gate insulatingfilm.
 11. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein metalatoms are arranged in a layered manner, or the metal atoms and oxygenatoms are arranged in a layered manner when seen from a directionperpendicular to the c-axis in each of the crystalline portions.
 12. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 10, further comprising a pair ofelectrodes at least part of which is in contact with the oxidesemiconductor film.